PHILADELPHIA -- Forty-five minutes before the UFC 101 weigh-ins were scheduled to begin, BJ Penn stuck his head out from behind the curtain that separates fighters from fans. Penn looked around, and fans sitting in the arena listening to a Dana White question-and-answer session slowly began noticing him. Instead of backing away and escaping to the quiet, he walked into section 116 of the Wachovia Center and began posing for photos with fans. Such behavior, it should be noted, is quite rare. In the last few moments before weighing in, the fighter has been starving himself for a time, depleting his body of water and is usually quite edgy. Penn, however, has been essentially locked away in a house this week with little outside contact apart from his camp, and perhaps he was happy to be otherwise engaged.
That simple development was among the only notable occurrences during an otherwise routine weigh-in session, as all 22 fighters made the mark. Penn and challenger Kenny Florian both comfortably made the 155-pound limit for the lightweight championship bout.
As has been the case with Penn all week, the man with the golden tongue had little to say.
"I'm in great shape, and I'm going to do my best," he said. "That's it."
With that, he walked off the stage and sent fans home to dream about Saturday night.
For the second straight day, Penn and Florian squared off for a photo opportunity, but did not share the customary handshake that follows. Florian, looking lean and confident, was a bit more wordy than the man he's challenging."It's my dream, it's what everyone fights for," he said. "I want to fight for the championship belt. Everyone wants to be a champion. I want to face the best. Now I want to live my dream tomorrow night."
The co-main event participants Anderson Silva and Forrest Griffin both officially came in at 205 pounds. Griffin ran on to the stage to possibly the biggest ovation of the afternoon while Silva feigned worry that he wouldn't make weight. Afterward, the two shook hands and bowed to each other.
The only notable result during the proceedings came in a welterweight bout, when former Ultimate Fighter champion Amir Sadollah checked in at 166.5 (non-title welterweight fighters can weigh as much as 171). Sadollah previously fought as a middleweight, but has not fought in over a year after being sidelined by a staph infection and a broken clavicle. His opponent, Johny Hendricks, weighed 171.
Newly re-signed former champ Tito Ortiz was also at weigh-ins, wearing a blue suit and a Phillies hat.
Official UFC 101 weigh-in results
UFC Lightweight Championship Match:
BJ Penn (155) vs. Kenny Florian (155)
Anderson Silva (205) vs. Forrest Griffin (205)
Ricardo Almeida (185) vs. Kendall Grove (185.5)
Josh Neer (155.5) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (154.5)
Johny Hendricks (171) vs. Amir Sadollah (166.5)
Aaron Riley (154) vs. Shane Nelson (156)
John Howard (169.5) vs. Tamdan McCrory (170)
Alessio Sakara (185.5) vs. Thales Leites (185)
Dan Cramer (169.5) vs. Matthew Riddle (170)
George Sotiropoulos (155) vs. George Roop (154)
Danillo Villefort (170.25) vs. Jesse Lennox (171)
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